Perchance a Coincidence? (AA, Isabel, Youth) 1/1 05.13

[StarGazing101]

Title: Perchance a Coincidence?
Author: StarGazing101
Disclaimer: I own nothing, got it?
Song: Within Temptation, Memories
Rating: Youth
Summary: Isabel Evans has made a new life for herself, but when you find your past colliding with your present, you can only wonder what might be at work. Post-Graduation. Unbeta'd.
Author's Note: This is similar to a past song ficlet I wrote long ago entitled Dance for the Moment and uses that basic idea but to a more corporeal extent.



<center>Perchance a Coincidence</center>



In this world you tried
Not leaving me alone behind.
There's no other way.
I prayed to the Gods, let him stay.
The memories ease the pain inside,
Now I know why.


She sits in isolation, alone in her melancholy while she massages her calves and stretches. Her eyes stare blankly at the dance floor, but her mind contemplates everything that has gone on in the last three years of her life. And though many of her thoughts are consumed by the catastrophic events that changed her life, the majority of them are consumed by Alex.

Memories surface at rapid speeds and behind her eyes she can see flashes of each event that unraveled and affected her to leave. She remembers the anger at hearing that Max had healed Liz; the amusement at Alex’s compliment of her “nice cones” at the Crash Festival the beginning of their sophomore year; and the utter shock and relief of Alex’s supportive nature when she thought she might’ve been pregnant.

Alex had made her smile more than any person she ever knew. She had laughed to the point she couldn’t breathe when he had stripped at her 18th birthday. She had been completely enamored with him when he had returned home from Sweden (or so they had thought at the time). It wasn’t just that he made her happy, but that whenever she was near him her walls came crashing down around her. And though it scared her terribly, he continually stayed by her side, even if she had to beg him to, like when she desperately wanted to go with him to the Prom. He made her a better person.


All of my memories keep you near.
In silent moments I imagine you’d be here.
All of my memories keep you near:
Your silent whispers; silent tears.


Unfortunately, along with those unforgettable memories came a lot of grief. After his striptease at her 18th, she had eventually left on a hunch only to end the night by murdering Roswell’s congresswoman, though it was out of self-defense. When at the Crashdown the next night after Prom and giggling at the pictures they’d all taken, they had received word that Alex had been killed in a car crash, and any happiness that had been in her life at that moment had begun to chip away into little pieces. It was only a week later that they’d discovered that Alex had been murdered (rather than by suicide, as the Roswell Police Department had suggested), by the person she herself had introduced to the group. Then upon arrival at home from having almost left the planet, all Isabel could do was kneel by the toilet, emptying her stomach of its contents.

The following year was a blur to her. At the beginning of the school year, Max and Liz had decided to play Bonnie and Clyde and “rob” a convenient store, in Utah of all places. While there with her parents and every other guest that had come to bail them out, she learnt that he had been a on the trail of a conspiracy to keep him from his son, that there had been a spaceship in the basement of said convenient store. Also, along with the craziness and chaos, Jesse was there to help her father with the proceedings. A man that she had begun to date during the summer, though it had meant nothing, and even in marriage her energy continued to sap, as much as she had tried to pretend that things were all right. Then when she was shot in late February of that year, while in a coma she had seen and spoken to Alex, and all that energy had come flooding back. If Michael hadn’t inherited Max’s powers, she would have stayed in that coma.

If things could have stopped there, Isabel would have been a very happy camper, but she was brought from her unconscious back to the world she had wanted to leave. Though it had become quiet for a little while, their peace was interrupted once more by the person who had done so the first time. Tess ruined the normalcy that they had worked so hard to accomplish in their little group and brought along with it chaos and tears. When voting on whether to turn her in, all Isabel could think was of Alex. She would look at the petite woman before her and all she could see was how Tess manipulated him, destroyed his mental processes, and inevitably brought him to his death at the tender age of seventeen. It was also of the utmost sympathy she felt for Alex’s parents that brought her close to smiting her once female best friend in front of the entire group. His parents would never know of the circumstances behind their son’s death, forever trapped with the image that their son committed suicide. When Liz said no and broke the tie, it had dawned on Isabel that she was ready to do the very thing she had once sworn against, that she was ready to kill for revenge.


Made me promise I’d try
To find my way back in this life.
I hope there is a way
To give me a sign you’re okay.
It reminds me again it’s worth it all.
So I can go home.


For the rest of the night, Isabel had remained to herself and when Jesse tried to console her, she had snapped at him to leave her alone and go to sleep. It had taken her a long while to get to sleep that night, and when she managed to reach REM, the first person to reach her subconscious was the very same one who’d been on her mind the entire day.

Alex had reached out to her, for her to take his hand, but she had refused, dropping to her knees and sobbing that she could not bear the idea that deep down she was no better than Tess. He refuted the notion and lifted her from her stooped position, wiping her tears and soothingly combing his slender fingers through her strands, firmly holding her against himself. Though dreams generally only lasted minutes, even seconds, Isabel had awoken to find the edge of her pillow soaked with her tears and Jesse crouched beside her. He informed her that her body had begun to wrack with sobs and that he had been attempting to wake her for a half hour. Isabel could only stare at him, dumbfounded that such a dream could so vividly disrupt her body, but she knew that it wasn’t the first time or her last.

By the time Isabel was somewhat settled again, though not without marital problems, Liz had begun to experience premonitions. The safety net she thought she had needed patches once again and even now that her parents knew who she really was . . . it only brought more turmoil for them. It had come to the point now that none of the group could stay in Roswell any longer, that it was time to sever all ties to the town that they considered their home and leave behind their loved ones permanently.


All of my memories keep you near.
In silent moments I imagine you’d be here.
All of my memories keep you near:
Your silent whispers; silent tears.


She traveled the road with the persons she considered family for a few months before she became restless. Her legs were constantly cramped, having to sit in the back of the van with three other people, all of whom were considerably shorter than her (besides Michael and Max, who most often sat in the driver and passenger seats), and often times she’d volunteer to drive just to be able to stretch her legs. After two months and a few close calls, Michael suggested that they split up rather than stick together, but not without protest from the rest of them, particularly Max and Maria, and Isabel and Kyle kept quiet for a majority of the disagreement. In the end though, it was better and less conspicuous if they did so, and they could all actually have some privacy, especially the now married Max and Liz.

It was obvious how the group would split: Max and Liz, Michael and Maria, and Isabel and Kyle, mainly due to the romantic entanglements of the first two while Isabel and Kyle preferred to remain friends but enjoyed the security of having the other in the same area. They traveled the country and were all dropped off at various states. Max and Liz opted for Florida, since Liz’s aunt lived there and it had decent weather and nice beaches. Kyle and Isabel opted for Washington, both wanting a change of scenery and sick of the sunburns during the hot Roswell summers. They figured they could get used to the Seattle rain. And Michael and Maria argued on where they would settle and eventually compromised on Chicago, Illinois. Each goodbye endured pain and many tears were shed, but it was for the best.

Now here Isabel sat a year later, in one of the many dance rooms at her university. She had done ballet for eight years before having quit at the start of high school for other endeavors, but after their time on the road and all the processed food, she needed to exercise regularly once again, and decided to get back to it once again. It was a healthy outlet for the daily stressors of having a thirty-hour-a-week job, going to school full-time, as well as kept her mind off of her family and all that she had left.


All of my memories keep you near.
In silent moments I imagine you’d be here.
All of my memories keep you near:
Your silent whispers; silent tears.


When Isabel heard the door to the studio open, she lifted her head and saw a male dancer walk in, pressing his hand to the door so it would shut quietly. He gazed across the room and noticed her and smiled, then went to the bar opposite her, dropped his gym bag, and began to stretch.

She knew him from a few of her classes but hardly remembered speaking to him. She didn’t even know his name. He was the strong silent type, preferring to keep to himself and only interacted with anyone when it was needed. At the beginning of the year when he entered their Organic Chemistry lecture, a heat spot at the nape of her neck that usually burned whenever Max or Michael was near had begun to do so. She had remained wary of him since, but the familiarity was still there, even now as she watched him lift his leg into a position that made her face slightly flush. She lifted her hand to her neck where she felt the small ignition and remained staring at him.

Her thought processes were in overdrive now that he was only yards away from her. Often times he wore a pair of jeans, Converses, and an overly large sweatshirt, and she was usually too busy keeping track of her own movements than watching his during ballet, but catching a good glimpse of him now, she could not mistake his resemblance to Alex. He was leaner than Alex had ever been, but had muscle from years of dance and working out to keep a slender frame. His dark hair was undeniably similar to Alex’s, he even had the same cut that Alex had when he had come home from “Sweden”. Unfortunately for her, she couldn’t see his eyes to check whether they were green or not, but she instead struck up the courage to ask his name, even though she knew her Alex had been dead for a little over two years now.


Together in all these memories
I see your smile.
All the memories I hold dear.
Darling, you know I’ll love you
Until the end of time.


The young man saw her approaching out of the corner of his eye and stopped stretching. He leaned against the barre and found that he couldn’t keep his eyes from wandering down and slowly scaling up, giving her the once-over.

“Hey,” she greeted, slightly disappointed that his eyes were a light shade of blue rather than green, but they were still bright and clear, much like Alex’s had been. She continued though, “You know, I see you quite a lot. I mean we share a few classes and yet I don’t even know your name.” He only nodded in response, keeping true to his silence, and she went on to introduce herself in hopes that he would open up to her. “Isobel Callaghan,” she supplied, stretching her right hand to him.

In politeness, he reached his hand out and took hers, shaking it while he introduced himself, “Charles Eggleston. Dance, organic chemistry, and calculus right?” he questioned, vaguely remembering seeing her golden strands somewhere in the front of his math class, but he wanted to make sure.

“Yeah,” she nodded, but her voice sounded strained due to having heard that he shared his first name with Alex’s middle, and her heart beat terrifically beneath her chest knowing that his name and his looks couldn’t have been a coincidence. Plus, with the invention of colored contacts came the ability to change one’s eye color. Hell, even she wore green contacts so to remain more inconspicuous, and with her extraterrestrial abilities she tweaked her voice enough to make herself sound like an Americanized Scot.

“Is everything all right?” he asked when her face drained of all color.

“Fine,” she said, swallowing harshly and attempting to keep her composure. “I thought it was terrible that I didn’t know your name, especially having three classes with you and all. So I thought it was good a time as any to find out so that we wouldn’t be such strangers. But anyway,” she glanced over her shoulder at the clock on the wall, “I really should go. I need to study for my microbiology exam in the morning.” She quickly scuttled to the other side of the room and began to gather her things.

As she had pushed the latch on the door, he gave his delayed response, “All right. Good luck on your exam, and see you tomorrow I hope,” and he smiled once more, a very nice set of whites sparkling at her.

Her breath caught in her throat at how much his smile resonated with her and a flash of Alex in pair of black yoga pants and tight white T-shirt came to mind. Once out the door, she ran to her dormitory, pushing past other students and she practically slammed the door, thanking her higher powers that her roommate wasn’t there. She dropped her things and slid down the backside of the door, her knees curled up against her chest and her head lolled onto her knees. In her short life, Isabel had encountered many adrenaline rushes, but nothing quite as forceful as this one.


All of my memories keep you near.
In silent moments I imagine you’d be here.
All of my memories keep you near:
Your silent whispers; silent tears.


It was the next morning that Isabel awoke and then came out of the shower to see her roommate walk in with her backpack on her shoulder and a piece of paper with something attached in hand.

“What d’you have there?” Isabel asked, gently drying her hair with a towel. “Got a secret admirer?” she joked, to which Tracy rolled her wide eyes.

“It’s for you. It was taped to our door,” she answered in her very quiet, soprano-like voice she possessed.

Isabel took the note and noticed that there was a CD taped to it. She read:


Hey, you left this in the stereo last night after you left and I thought I’d return it to you since I won’t be in class today to do so. No need to worry that I stalked you. I asked around to find out which hall and room was yours, seems you’re quite popular. Anyway, I’m sorry if I spooked you last night for whatever reason. I’m not really used to people approaching me, so you came as a surprise I suppose. Just so you know you don’t have to be afraid to ask me questions or speak to me. I’m just introverted, that’s all, and so it takes a bit more effort on the other person’s part to get me to converse.

I think you’re really nice, Isobel, and I don’t want you to think of me as a freak, you know? Feel free to call me anytime at this number if you want to talk or hang out: 555-0429. Usually I’m in the library, dance studio, gym, or held up in my dormitory, so it’s nice to get out once in a while.

Charles


Isabel read over the short letter a few times, her roommate hovering over her shoulder. “Could you not do that?” she asked and her roommate backed off, a smug smile on her face.

“And you say I’m the one with the secret admirer? Who’s Charles?”

“Strong silent type,” she answered simply.

“Wait, dark-haired, slim and handsome? You actually spoke to him?”

“Yeah, last night at the studio he came in while I was stretching and I decided to actually find out his name. He’s quite nice, though our exchange was short-lived. I just found it really eerie how much he reminded me of my, er, ex,” she fibbed.

The petite girl nodded, “Yeah, I know what you mean. I’ve had a few run-ins like that, but if he’s nice and it doesn’t bother you too much, why not at least pursue a friendship?”

Isabel acquiesced, “I suppose I could, I mean, you and Kyle are always telling me to get out more.” She shrugged her shoulders and carefully de-taped the CD from the paper and went to place it in its designated spot. “Speaking of Kyle,” she started, “Did you stay at his place last night?” When she noticed the girl flush, she laughed. “It’s all right. I just wanted to make sure you didn’t fall asleep at some random bus stop again.”

“Oh, believe me that will never happen again. Thank God for Kyle, saving me from that guy,” the girl shuddered. “My knight in shining armor,” she quipped, receiving a playful slap from Isabel when she returned. “Hey! Anyway, I’m going to be late for class. I just wanted to stop in and make sure you were all right, since some of our peers told me you came running in like you had been attacked and I was worried. Luckily, you’re okay,” she smiled.

“Yeah, go on to class. I need to get ready myself. I have that damn exam in almost an hour. How about we meet up for lunch in a few hours? Souper Salad?”

“You’re on. I’ll see you later!”

When she was gone, the smile on Isabel’s face disappeared and she went into her closet and reached for a box at the top. She put the box onto her bed and climbed up then proceeded to rummage through it, Charles note on her thigh. When she retrieved what she was looking for, she picked up his letter and compared it to a piece of paper in her left hand. Her reaction made her drop both letters to the floor and kick the box where she kept personal effects off her bed.

Charles handwriting was an exact match to Alex’s.


All of my memories . . .